Forensic audio experts Allen and Owen have had long, interesting careers deciphering the sounds of crime

From mobsters and murderers to terrorists and even a chatty presidential hopeful, forensic audio specialists Stuart Allen and Tom Owen have scrutinized, analyzed -- and testified about -- an extraordinary array of recorded subjects and suspects.

New Jersey-based Allen, 67, and Owen, 64, have more than six decades of experience between them in the forensic audio profession. They've worked with the FBI and other federal agencies, police departments, private detectives, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and news organizations. Many courts have designated them as expert witnesses. They're good friends who sometimes are on opposing sides, but respect each other's abilities. "Both of us are known as sort of contrarians," Owen said.

Their duties range from deducing the conversations on static-filled wiretaps to searching for evidence of tampering and verifying the identity of speakers.

Both men entered the relatively small forensic audio field from other careers.

Allen was a photographer and filmmaker who in the 1970s wrote, produced and directed training films and TV segments. He installed the remote cameras that were meant to capture motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel's aborted 1974 jump across the Snake River Canyon in Idaho.

Allen's training in electronics and computers, coupled with his knowledge of recording and editing equipment, made the switch to audio forensics a natural. So did his love of adventure, and using his technical skills to help solve mysteries. He recently found signs of tampering in a video that federal immigration officials were using to try to deport a Brooklyn imam who had refused to cooperate in a terrorism investigation.

"Every day is an adrenaline rush," said Allen.

Owen was a professional guitarist, music producer, studio engineer and ultimately the chief engineer at Lincoln Center's vast Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound in New York City, where he had access to cutting-edge sound equipment.

In 1981 the New York Police Department asked him to help decipher a surveillance tape involving the Weather Underground, an extremist group. That case led to more forensic work. Owen has confirmed the identity of Osama bin Laden on communiques from the terrorist, and authenticated for the New York Times the voice of George W. Bush on a series of conversations secretly taped by a friend before Bush was president.

Like Allen, Owen enjoys the excitement of forensic work. And he contends his musical training -- he played in backing bands for the Shangri-Las and other groups -- helped hone his skills.

"I always maintain that the best forensic people are former musicians, because they've got the best ears," he said.